My god, the amount of information in such a little novella, was astounding. Such rich worldbuilding, spanning generations, and realms, and countries, and different families should not be possible on such small pagecount, but this book was so good, and so immersive, even in the info dumping sections. Naomi Novik killed it here. I loved the lore, the trickery, the fae and the humans. Well worth the read!

This little novella is a story about the bond between siblings, love and the war between two wholly different kingdoms.

This read like a fairytale. I liked the way the author interweaved the magic with the story. The characters are all very well written and the story tore at my heartstrings sometimes.

In my opinion, I wouldn’t have mind it to be a bit longer. The story has a lot of potential to be longer. The ending was a bit predictable and in my opinion, it felt a bit rushed. But, overall, I loved it.

I’ve never read anything from this author yet, but now I most definitely will pick up some of her other books.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Novik is a wonder with words and transforms what could be a simple, predictable fairy tale into an emotional and wonderful journey.

There’s something about Naomi Novik’s books that reminds me of the fairy tale retellings of the early aughts in the best way. They’re perfectly fantastical and they pull you right into their magic. I have yet to meet a Naomi Novik book that I didn’t like. She’s one of my top auto-buy authors.

This was a perfect bite-sized read.
Celia made a mistake as a child by accidentally cursing her favorite brother. Celia acknowledges this mistake and tries to be a better person by finally befriending her overlooked brother. I loved how the two of them bonded and became a team, taking care of their land while their father neglected everything.
I don't want to spoil what happens in the latter half of the book, but it's tragic and romantic wrapped up into a perfect ending.

I do wish this novella were a novel, if only because of the early pacing, which made it feel like it was going to go deeper–but then I realized I was almost halfway through.

The Summer War between elves ("summerlings") and human had gone on for so long, but now Celia lives in her father's estates, being raised to marry the lazy old duke next door. When her angry words at her brother bloom into a curse, she becomes a much more valuable pawn.

I love smart young women, family bonds, and the alienness of the summerlings. While not my usual genre, Novik always wins me over.

This read like a fairytale and it was just absolutely enchanting. Celia is such an interesting character. I loved the family and how they grew through the story. There’s a lot of heart put into this story and you feel all of it despite its short length.

Upset when her beloved brother flees the home of their father who disapproves of his sexuality, Celia curses her brother to never find love only to have it come true. Now Celia must travel to the Summerlands to find him and lift the curse. But her newfound magic as a sorceress has caught the eye of the king and she is soon betrothed to the crown prince.

If I had realized The Summer War was a novella, I would have passed. Given it's short length, Novik rushes through the plot with little character development. The fantasy world and concept of the Summer War was intriguing and had Novik turned it into a full-length novel, I think I might have enjoyed it. Instead, the plot ended up being overly simplistic and naive.

While I love Naomi Novik's longer works, with Temeraire and Uprooted constantly vying for my number one spot- The Summer War feels lacking in something that drew me to it in the first place.

I think the framing of the story in the book blurb does a disservice to the actual center of the book. I think I expected much less exposition (however interesting) and more focus on the curse and the aftermath from the get-go.

It's interesting because the framing of it all is what's throwing me off. I think if this narrative were presented differently than I might be more satisfied with it.

This was a beautiful, dreamy little bird book perfect for summer. The book feels like an old hazy fairytale, and it was just enough to satiate me until the next Naomi Novik book.

This was a touching novella that packed a lot of world-building, heart, and love into so few pages. The story of Celia and her brothers is one that centers learning about yourself and the lengths you'll go to for those that you love. The world-building was incredibly well-done and gave a vivid picture of the scope and history of the titular war, all while being important in the overall plot. It was truly an excellent novella and a wonderful experience to read it!

Rating: 4/5
e-ARC review - The Summer War by Naomi Novik

New Fairy Tale just dropped?
Because it definitely felt like something I would read from a fairy tale book I found in my grandmother’s house, and I love it for this.
The ambiance was amazing, if you like The Cruel Prince and the Assassin’s Apprentice, I think you are going to enjoy this short story. I liked how the world was set, the tales inside the tales. But in the end, it was a book about the love between brothers, about how we can decide to care, and about how vengeance is not worth it. Naomi is one of my favorite writers (and I just found out she is one of the founders of AO3, what? My queen), and I truly enjoy everything she writes.
This one was short and sweet and definitely worth it.

Many thanks to The Del Rey Team and NetGalley for providing this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is a fairly short novella, told in the style of Spinning Silver. More of a fairy tale telling regarding a Princess and her two brothers, the land of the Summer Fae, and an unknowingly given curse.

It is a fun and light read with a more fantastical world building as a setting. While it is not my favorite of Ms. Novik's works, it was a pleasant read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. This book will be out for publication on September 16, 2025.

Loved this novella from Naomi Novik, it's perfect for fans of her other work. In some ways a classic fairytale, but is also a refreshing take. There's an impressive amount of world building given its length. LOVED the relationship between the siblings.

Oh Naomi Novik, can you do wrong? This exquisite little novella was such a blast to read. I loved Celia and her relationship with her family, and Novik really understands how to construct a fairy tale.

(I was given an ARC by the publisher) A quick read that feels familiar with the usual Naomi Novik flare.

I really enjoyed the story and the characters and kind of wish it was in a longer format so that there could have been more time to flesh them out more. I don’t think the story was rushed but I know the worlds she weaves in novel sized fantasy so this was just a tease into a interesting world more than anything.


I want to know more about this little sorceress and her brothers but that I guess is the sign of a good story. Definitely recommend a read if you like knights, bards, fae, and sorcery.

What a sweet little fairy tale! I often struggle with novellas, but this one was perfectly gripping, I got enough attachment to the characters and felt satisfied by how it wrapped up. The world was very whimsical, but the characters really made this for me with their depth.

The Summe War is a fairy tale like novella that follows three siblings across adventure in two kingdoms. I felt like this story could have been longer, but I enjoyed the tale.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of The Summer War. I was so excited about getting to read the newest Naomi Novik book, but unfortunately, I didn't have a positive experience.

I am begging fantasy authors to stop writing sexual scenes involving minors and to stop using sex crimes as jokes.

While The Summer War had some pacing issues, along with 2D characters and overly predictable plot points, it could have been a sweet and entertaining little novella.

But we're not in the '90s any more. It's really not okay to not understand the basics of consent. And it's particularly nauseating when there's not even a plot or character reason for it.

It's really emphasised that our main character Celia is a child. <Spoiler>She must marry the prince, and he wants to marry her when she's 12. Her family refuses, saying she should wait until she's 18, but the prince won't accept 18 or even 16, so in the end, she's married at 15.

But on her wedding day, she's not married to the prince. Instead, despite her saying no over and again, she's forcibly married to an immortal elf-like ruler who carries her off to his kingdom and locks her in a tower.

The good news is that this immortal ruler has no intention of raping her; instead, he wants to humiliate her by only having sex with other people so she's driven to suicide.

But, she still has to sit and watch an orgy during her wedding feast, and she's still afraid that her husband will rape her.</spoiler> Again, she's a child, and there's no logical reason why she couldn't have been older during these scenes. At no point are we given a reason why the prince wouldn't wait until she was an adult, or why he originally wanted this happen when she was 12.

Then, <spoiler>her brothers come to save the day — and as part of this, there's an entirely unnecessary verse of song about a man sexually assaulting every ram and ewe in a field, complete with a "deeply-distressed" "Baaa-aah!"</spoiler> Come on, why was this included?

I'm disappointed and frustrated that what could have been a charming novella was ruined by these — entirely unnecessary! — issues.

I'm a huge Naomi Novik fan and this one also hit the mark for me.

Celia is the youngest child of a man who started as a low born knight and scrabbled his way up to a dukedom with wily war strategies. Celia has two older brothers Argent and Roric. Poor Roric, the middle child of course, is discounted as valuable as his mother was of common birth (and cause he's the middle child).

When Argent leaves the family home due to his father's inability to accept him, Celia is heartbroken and accidentally curses him to never be loved.

In the background is the war that's been going on between their kingdom and the one of the Summerlings (fairy like people) for ages as each slight against the other is returned in kind.

Roric and Celia bond in Argent's absence and just may be the ones to heal hurts and break curses.

This is a short book and very much a fairy tale, but one I enjoyed, as even in these few pages character development still happened.